Phở Ban Mai Restaurant

I was visiting my family in San Diego and they wanted to meet up at Pho Ban Mai in Mira Mesa.
We usually go to a different Pho place down the road but, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d like this place because of the low reviews. I was quite surprised to find I really enjoyed the food here! Pho Ban Mai is nestled within the same plaza where Rite Aid, Boiling Crab and Seafood City are located.
It was a little hard to find because the signage wasn’t as visible. We were seated quickly but we had about a dozen family members and we were split into separate tables.
Note: This restaurant is not made for large groups; however, the staff were accommodating and made it work. Because of the smaller group seating, the orders were placed by table number.
For example, there’s a QR code which launches their menu and you would place your order from there.
It’s pretty cool actually.
But if you’re someone who does not have a smart phone, you’ll be ordering the traditional way through a server and, from our experience, the language barrier was a challenge. We ended up placing 3 group orders due to our split tables but we were able to ask to pay on one big check. A few things we ordered from our table: * Bun Thit Nuong Cha Gio (Vermicelli with Grilled Pork and Egg Rolls) - This is great for sharing.
The dish itself is plentiful and you have your carb, protein, and veggies.
This came with an egg roll, which is filling on its own. * Grilled Pork with Broken Rice - This came with a side of pickled veggies and a perfectly rounded scoop of steamed rice.
I believe you get the option of fried rice or steamed rice but we opted for the latter.
The taste was delicious! * Pho #1 - House Special Noodle Soup - It’s just standard that we order the first pho option whenever we go to a Vietnamese restaurant.
The broth had a good flavor and it wasn’t oily. * Beef Steak Cubes with Fried Rice and Salad - Bo Luc Lac is a family favorite.
The beef cubes are always tender and juicy and comes on a sizzling hot plate.
It’s perfect served over steamed rice.
And the nuoc cham (fish sauce) flavors the dish with a sweet and salty umami. Overall, everyone enjoyed the food.
Ordering was a little chaotic but we were able to get that settled quickly.
I’m glad we gave this place a shot - the ratings are low but I guarantee you, you’d be surprised how good it is here! You won’t know til you try it!

It's no hidden gem but it will do the job for all your viet food cravings! I came here with a group of 16+ and although very surprised, were happy and open to serving all of us. Pho dac biet: Get Although there's nothing dac biet about this one, it will for sure fill you up and cure all your hang overs.
It's not the best bowl you'll ever have but it's satisfying and solid. Service was hit and miss but I can't complain much because of our very lage party. Although it's not my first or second or third choice...
I don't regret having a big vietnamese family dinner here.

Where do I start? First, when we walked into the restaurant, the receptionist didn't even acknowledge us and kept chatting with the other servers until we practically had to greet them to get noticed.
It set a rather unwelcoming tone right from the beginning. Moving on to the food, it seems the quality has significantly declined over the years.
The pho, which I used to enjoy, was incredibly bland.
I had to add an excessive amount of salt and hoisin sauce just to make it edible, otherwise it's not any different than noodles in a bowl of boiling water.
Lastly, the service continued to disappoint when our food arrived. We had to request every single piece of silverware and sharing plates ourselves because the servers were too busy chatting among themselves.
It felt like a total disregard for customer service. Overall, this visit was deeply unsatisfactory on multiple levels, indicating a significant drop in both food quality and customer service standards day by day.